"Untitled" Painting

I was a beauty school dropout--currently a mixed media creative. The urge to place/arrange and combine colors, mediums, forms and textures is what prompts me to continue making things. I work without a palette, placing colors directly on the substrate. My work brings forward that which I am feeling versus a concept. It is a natural and intuitive process. I enjoy moving visual elements around in a space. The result can be raw or refined. So much of making a work revolves around putting something down and taking something away. Each painting takes me on an adventure where the ups and downs eventually lead to some form of harmony or order. Having played piano and violin, music has always had a tremendous influence on me which to this day impacts my creative output. I have been a full time painter since 2003. Prior to that, I was employed adminstratively in corporate environments in a variety of fields which ran the gamut from the insurance industry to a well-known beer importing company, an architect firm and a long term care retirement community. Along the way, my interest in art and painting was expressed through volunteer work at the Philadelphia Art Museum and evening classes taken at Philadelphia College of Textiles and The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art. I consider myself "self-taught" in painting. I have not had any formal training as a painter.